Headlines from the Proactive UK newsroom.
FTSE 100 a short time ago was down 115 points to 5250 even though the US Federal Reserve has chopped interest rates to zero as part of a US$700bn stimulus programme to tackle the coronavirus crisis. It is the second emergency cut in interest rates in a fortnight and will be accompanied by a bond buying plan.
British Airways owner IAG (LON:IAG) is to cut capacity in April and May by 75% to cope with the impact of the US travel ban and severe restrictions to flights elsewhere. First quarter capacity will drop by 7.5%.
EasyJet (LON:EZJ) has also warned it will slash flights on a rolling basis for the foreseeable future and might even ground the majority of the fleet.
Not all businesses are doing badly from the crisis, however. Derviatives specialist Plus500 (LON:PLUS) says the market carnage has meant a surge in trading activity. As a result revenue and profitability for the full year will be substantially ahead of current consensus expectations.
Westminster Group’s (LON:WSG) sales of its fever screening equipment to airports have already jumped to US$720,000 with new enquiries running at 28 per day. Fever screening supplies over the rest of the year will likely be a material part of its business.
Elsewhere, Bidstack (LON:BIDS) has signed a new exclusive agreement with racing game developer Codemasters to deliver native in-game advertising into an upcoming 2020 title. Advertisers will be able to deliver contextually relevant ads in real time into natural spaces within the game.
